Monday, 26 June 2023

Another week in gaming....

Most games are a players preference. Not really a massive revelation. Yet gaming is a personal perspective and all so very subjective. For the most part I like dipping my toe into a lot of games. So much so it's a wonder I've never burned out playing games; Then again it wouldn't be an enjoyable hobby otherwise. That's not to say I can't go all in on only ome and really enjoy it; Just that more often than not I'll also be potter with others as well. Surprise surprise this last week has seen me in a fair few games....





Planet Crafter....

I've not really been back playing recently(last here and here) but the game has received a teaser trailer for it's next update. Lots to see with that.


Amphibians(10 frogs)....
Mini rockets(trading)....
Space trading console for said mini rockets....
Multicoloured sofa's and beds....
Cooking station.....
More foods via cooking station....
New golden effigy....

The Beta of the next patch is in an early stage but interesting in the changes that will come.

Plenty to keep a Crafter busy; I'm looking forward to the new content when it's released. Onward to "Space Trading"!





Darkest Dungeon....

Good news turned to bad then into OK and back to bad; In trying to clear the roster of quirks/disease and stress issues heroes have only been added to that list of 'afflicted'.

Overall two more bad runs of the Drowned Crew ended in failure(full retreats). I've never had so many problems with this encounter never mind on higher difficulty levels. I'm really surprised by that given the Radiant nature of this save.






PowerWash Simulator....

Slow and steady with the operative word very much being slow. Using the white nozzle on the ancient statue for the achievement takes patience and time; Both of which I've not been sharing with the game the last week. I've not played the game much but there has been some more progress.....






Battlefield 1....

A game I've continued to play on both PC and Xbox for multiplayer. No major gameplay these last few months but enough to call 'pottering about'; With the odd match on one platform or other when the mood takes. A game that can feel really good in its gameplay even if your side is loosing the match. Nothing like a well contested map.


As I said last month, the more things change the more they stay the same. BF1 on PC still has matches that range from good to bad and the ugly(cheaters). I shouldn't be surprised. It can all be a mixed bag, but I'd rather that than nothing(or newer Battlefield games). So I'm still getting a kick form PC like here and here and with Xbox here and here. Fun is fun.






Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun....

In reaching the Smelting Decks level(first level of the 3rd and final act) I've hit a roadblock. In my last post I was premature on the large rooms with waves of enemies comment.... I jinxed it. Smelting Decks platforming isn't bad but the incoming fire is harsh.... More so the lack of heavy weapons and more importantly, lacking ammo. Can't please all of the people all of the time as the saying goes.... Normal player perspective(each to their own). So I've left it for most of the week. One of those levels that needs a fast reaction mindset, which just hasn't been happening. So it's been getting a break.






Planet of Lana....

After having left the game installed and idle I finally really got into and finished it over the last week. Would I classify this a game better than Alpha Planet; Yes and No. Both great games in the same style. Both worth playing. Planet of Lana has a more satisfying end to it's story so it's well worth it. 



Planet of Lana adds more puzzles that don't break a players mind too much. So far everything on screen has been logical. Maybe not so easy with puzzle timing. If it's on screen or can be manipulated then it's not there just to be there; It's there as part of the answer. Mix that with the unfolding story and characters, I'm really enjoying it. As a game it has more 'character' than Planet Alpha. A real page turner that I don't mind as a time sink.




I was stuck at the air/fans section, due to Nui on a reprogrammed drone and my flying and bad timing. My fault; As with some of the other stages that followed timing is key. This was never a flawless run. A first run for the story and experience. 


Glad to have done it; I've enjoyed it. The last parts are tricky. Quicktime events like other parts need repetition to get to know and complete. It's only after the fact I see that there's an option to turn off quicktime events; Which would have made it easy to skip parts but it was fun in it's doing. Plus I think in retrospect I'm glad I did them. The Mui/fans part really was the most difficult for me. The end parts again down to repetition; But as I said worth it as the ending to the story is a more complete one. 







American Truck Simulator....

When I saw this new trailer for ATS, knowing I'd gotten the DLC previously; Best to check out the new new in person!


And check it out I did. While I'm still lacking in company cash flow (early game); Doing quick contracts cargo/truck and all is good all round. It's just too handy a way to see such new trucks. As well as make some income!



Being more of an ETS 2 than an ATS player; All the trucks seem to handle similarly in ATS in my view.... They're all 'just' smooth. I'm no good at the nuance of ATS trucks. Outing myself as the super casual player that I am.


But a chance to check the new trucks and do some content is all worth it. All motivation to get back at more of it.














Star Citizen.....

It's worse than before!!!!!  

If ever there was a comparison its to consider it's development as 'Perfect is the enemy of good'.

They may have done work(it's eternal work in progress), but it seems like it's not enough butter spread on toast. Unfulfilling! Lacking tangible results better than before. All the while they are fussing over developing minutia that does nothing to bring 'A Game' to the party.

Can you tell I'm not a believer never mind a shill!

A test tech-bed is not a game. What they have now is worse than even earlier versions. Starfield is going to blast Star Citizen away... It'll be more to all the same players. Plus it'll be playable and available.

At 11 years old and HALF A BILLION cash later, the 'game' is still so very, very 'early' Alpha..... Mindbogglingly so!!! They are so down their own rabbit hole they aren't even making any promises on what they do bring out; It's all said after the fact (sorta, kinda, maybe) while shoving more ships sales down anyone's throat if they show any glimpse of interest.

Waiting for game indeed!

The game while discussed by me and a 'heavily invested' real life friend is one we often describe as Star Shítízen or more kindly just as Vaporware..... 



We tried it out this last week with the Persistent Universe. It was not fun.

At least in previous iterations of 'the game' I could see my stuff out in a hanger.... At least I could see it. Now it all lives in my inventory. That is if the ui graphics load.


We bought into the for the Wing Commander dream of Squadron 42. I did a bare-bones Aurora LN and other trinkets buy in(being SC young and gullible in 2014); While my friend spent a 'lot' and was gifted a 'lot'( and I mead a LOT). 
Being the art kind of guy he's ripped the models form the game files and  started 3D printing his ships. The only way he gets to actually use most of his ships. So he needed to see some ship assets in game(to work on painting the models etc); So we 'tried' it out this last week.... 
I can't be kind to it. It's a steaming pile of BS.  A look at the Persistent Universe/tutorial and 'pottering' about was enough to dissuade us. None of it made a good impression.




Given the we both had issues it's a long way off as an MMO to be played. It's actually worse than when I tried it before! Given my friend has a much better video card the game was inconsistent(to me kind) with both our experiences. Seeing the PU in this state makes me wonder what all the youtubers go on about.... Especially when they talk of gameplay or show gameplay; I'm wondering what they are playing, cos it's not what I'm seeing. They seem to have a lot of rose tinted glasses and make a lot of excuses for what they do see. Which in turn makes it all seem like unbelievable shill BS.

NPC's at 'work'.... Still staring at the walls.

Even just the loading screen for the tutorial was about 4 mins for me 10 for him(he has a 'better' PC!). Yea yea it's work in progress and yea yea it's in an Alpha state.... It's also over 10 years old and has half a billion invested.
Tutorial controls are as un-intuitive, more cumbersome and annoying than helpful! 
Walking is like being stuck in treacle and running is like being Quicksilver (X-Men Movies).
Between the on screen ui and wrist mobi there's a crossover of useless and doubled up information. 
The tutorial may help with some very basic howto's but it isn't at all intuitive or fully explained. It's like there was a compromise made in control methods. Keyboard and mouse would be ideal and cover the bases but then you mix in controllers and game-pads to lower the common control denominator; That it has to suit all players and whatever they decide to use. 
Graphic textures can look decent for the most part as still life but a lot of lag for me on an eu server was a killer when moving. E.g. Rubber-banding; It was so bad trying to both enter and exit the first elevator doing the tutorial that it was all a multiple try event. Overall it's beyond parody by saying it's glitch as fk.

No wonder the troubleshooting pretty much says to disable everything overlay related.... Steam, Nvidia ety etc.

11 years of development and the Alpha client 'may' have issues with:
VPN services.
Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware programs.
Graphics enhancing or altering programs like ReShade.
Windows' XBox Game Bar
Teamviewer - Close this, open game, then you can open it again
ROCCAT Swarm - Close this, open game
Discord - Check and disable Overlay settings
Fully disable the following application or settings, and re
MSI Afterburner, overclocking, overlays
Razer Tartarus software
Steam
Nvidia overlays
XBox Game Bar 
GeForce Replay
ASUS Sonic Suite 2

Source here: 
& here:

It's not easily playable; Not as a testbed never-mind a game. I dont' get the adverts over you-tube that say it's "playable NOW". Starfield will kick it's áss in as literal a way as is possible! Star Citizen will be to Starfield as Elite Dangerous is to No Man's Sky today; The decent but lesser choice option.



Gameplay that's so exciting!

There's a universe there. There are stations and planets and a 'game' to interact with. Visual quality of a sort with game mechanics of the moment(work in progress), but it's not 11 years worth of progress to show. Not what you'd expect, never mind see game polish to it. It's perpetually unfinished.  None of it makes me want to interact with it never mind 'put up' with it's "quirks". 
Did I mention it's 11 years old and has half a billion invested...  I just don't get how it's fans are so deep in the kool-aid. How can fans who no longer get promises of improvements 'seem' to be gullible with each promised non promise of improvement.... Faith should be a stretch for them now? The Squadron 42 Motion Capture was done in 2015!

After so much time in development, previous hype/promises and such a lot of money soaked up I don't have an ounce of trust in them delivering any portion of their 'game'. No suprise from me right! As I said, the game has been in better shape than it is currently. There's no certainty and so no trust from me.

The game has veered like a drunk driver from the lane of Simulation to the other lane of arcade-esque gameplay. I'm not sure it knows what it wants to be at this stage. It wants to be a complicated yet simple simulation dog-fighting, FPS. It wants to have players eat and drink but makes the practicalities anything but practical. I've seen players die of thirst and respawn because it's faster than drinking!!!!! The game development is running from one cool idea, game mechanic or real world technology to another; Leaving bits and pieces strewn all over the place, calling it early access work in progress and still driving on.... To me, what I'm seeing does not justify the recent spate of adverts for it as a game to "play NOW!" Good luck to anyone who buys in and gets into it.... They may be waiting a "while". 

I've waffled too much. I've biased personal perspectives; As if this post doesn't make that clear enough.

Three more recent vids from Youtubers to watch on the subject.








XCOM 2....


There's a lot to like with the game; Granted also a lot I don't like. Maybe XCOM 2 just isn't a game for me. Changes both in game systems and style do make it it's own game; More than I'd want when compared to the previous XCOM. 




Even with War of the Chosen installed; The game is still the game I first tried. It was never going to be better than the original game for me. I can see that and I can't force it to be more than it is. Maybe enough is enough. Playing it for the sake of playing it isn't a good enough reason. It's not given me more enjoyment, just a slight bit more tolerance for it. I think I'll be uninstalling it(edit: yeap it got uninstalled).





Eve Online....

Eve is Eve and CCP is CCP; At least most players have a game to play most of the time unlike a certain other well financed, non finished, space related game.


My time in Eve Online has been more of the same; But this last week saw the Omega times all run out the clock. 

I finished up all that I could that needed Omega access. Otherwise it's all been the usual asset shuffle etc.

I do like the new added lights on ships. Missile effects are good and I like the idea of the differentiation but in practical terms it's all just the same; So says the PvE arebear.






Despite a need to get bacl into Abyssal space I've not yet had the real time investment to take that one. Not even as just for solo fun. An itch that will be scratched at some stage. I'm hoping sooner rather than later.








Star Trek Online....

More of the same. I've been continuing to do event dailies(both platforms) and then some catchup for newer single player content on my Xbox main; As I'd not done both this and the last events accompanying PvE/Solo missions. More to do in a completionist kind of way than anything else. I like having my main "done it all".

Progress is progress.






PC may be my main form of STO gameplay but the Xbox version (at least to me) is so much more accessible (because of it's console platform) that it's more casual to interact with.

By no means am I a knowledgeable person when it comes to STO, metas(current or last year etc); I don't min/max builds and certainly am not space rich. I'm casual and I keep an eye out on news/meta etc. If something happens to draw my attention and it's easy enough to 'do' then I'll do it. That's one of the things I think is good about STO. It's more than doable as a casual player who both does not invest cash nor much knowledge; But can get away with a little of most. STO gameplay overall is casual(eye of the beholder) given the things they also give away as promotions on sites as well as in game(events or free). That's why it became a no brainer for me to get the lifetime sub which has paid for itself by now, never mind the rewards and bonuses that can be taken for granted on my account. Lifetime rewards and details here, here and here.

An opportunity was had this weekend. Using my free Zen from my lifetme sub I bought a few of the Duty officer packs to sell on the exchange for EC. To bring him back up to 100 million EC(it'll last him and alts a long long time). The newest advanced consoles/materials and messing about with them had somewhat depleted his EC a good bit. Gameplay happens.



While I've persisted with the events on PC(with my wife); We've taken a break from also doing the Elite due to time constraints and motivation. Life happens.


My main on PC with enough spare R&D materials to make advanced batteries, has been ding so. Not a necessary item by any means but while the mats are there they may as well get used. 


Not a whole lot of news otherwise. Some interesting player characters still about.....



After not missing a daily for the current PC event, it's all about the Dil for me.


The Crusher Boff reward is an interesting one; But having the Bashir Boff already, I consider him the better choice.


With the current event in it's final days on PC; The summer event is expected on both platforms. With it the new 'free' ship. I'm not a fan of the new animated shows that that new ship is interesting. Free is free and it's different for sure. I just think of it as another Star Trek races ship instead of an animated Renaissance fair planet vessal.  Still it's a design that has grown on me. 


Seeing it's design makes me think Gorn than anything else in Trek.... Probably the Green....... As for the hull design it screams the Amarrian race from Eve Online. Same type of fancy swirls.


It's stats are somewhat interesting. The console and the ship trait that come with it are as well. There's better paid ships; There are probably previous free ships that are also 'better'. Best it's not to be passed up. Free is free after all; Better to have and not need than need and not have etc etc.

Three good videos for current news, the summer ship and event which I found interesting are:

& 


Back to the summer event; No doubt I'll be doing both on PC and Console. It should be good.

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